In places and times when clean drinking water was a scarce commodity, people came up with ways of making drinks safer, from boiling water and making coffee, tea and herbal infusions to drinking fermented alternatives such as beers from grains, and wines from fruit, honey, cactus plants and other sources of sugar. The fermentation process produces alcohol, which kills harmful microbes and preserves nutrients.

Chicha, a traditional drink from South America, is made from ground maize or cassava, which is chewed and fermented with warm water.

Kumis is an ancient Central Asian drink fermented from mares’ milk.

Banana beer, a popular alcoholic drink throughout Africa known as urwaga in Kenya and lubisi in Uganda, is made by extracting juice from ripe bananas, mixing it with sorghum flour and water, and leaving it to ferment for up to 24 hours.

Mead, a drink fermented from honey, has been around for at least 9,000 years. Ancient Greeks, Mayans and Indians all made and drank variations of mead, and it is still popular in Nepal, where it is called dandaghare, across to Ethiopia, where tej is highly alcoholic and berz is weaker.

Healthy people in a healthy environment

Good health and well-being require a clean and harmonious environment where physical, psycho - logical, social and aesthetic factors are all given their due importance. These factors are affected by actions and choices which can secure considerable health benefits. The environment is thus not only important for its own sake, but as a resource for better living conditions and well-being.

What we’ve agreed: the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Millennium Development Goals

Green savings

What young people want

Water – the key to life

The air we breathe

Safer, quieter towns and cities of the future – reclaiming the streets